Send Help. It’s May and there is Total Parenting Chaos

The other night I was scrubbing the house. Random stuff. Cleaning the appliances. Wiping doors and molding. Scrubbing kitchen drawers.

And I overheard one of my daughters wonder out loud, “What is mom doing?”

My other daughter replied, “Oh she is stressed. Just leave her alone.”

I wanted to laugh and I wanted to cry. I am sure I have done a little bit of both since that moment.

Because it is springtime.

And all of the parenting chaos, along with all of the pollen, arrives sometime in mid-April and sticks around for a few weeks causing complete and total parenting chaos.

This isn’t my first springtime rodeo. Nope. You could consider me somewhat of an expert. Last year I managed a weekend in May when one child had to be in Georgia for a gymnastics meet, one had to be in Charlotte, NC for a choir competition, and another had to be at a campground for his bridging ceremony.

And I found myself curled up in a ball in my closet in tears with no clue how to proceed.

Yeah. Add that to my parenting resume.

“Handles stress by hiding in the closet. with chocolate. and tears.”

But somehow we made it through that weekend. I eventually put on my big girl panties and left the safety of the closet. I made the big decisions and put one foot in front of the other and led my people through the weekend.

And everyone had a great time. And my newly minted Boy Scout was able to bridge at his first Scout meeting instead of the camping trip.

But here we are again.

It’s May and I spent the last few weeks of April doing so much parenting paperwork that the house appeared to be covered in snow.

• the school forms
• the medical summer camp forms
• the college paperwork
• the permission letters
• transcripts for my homeschooled 8th and 10th graders

Everyone needs something filled out. I am not sure I’ve seen the actual surface of my desk in weeks. But my laptop does appear to be sitting on something.

And then there is the matter of the calendar. It’s gotten so bad that I had to bring out the big guns: highlighters. Colors were assigned and things got real around here.

• end of the year shows
• end of the year parties
• theater rehearsals and performances and cast parties
• drivers ed
• prom
• high school orientation
• piano recitals
• vacation packing because we are getting out of dodge once I survive this weekend

The list is never ending.

Which means there is the shopping. Oh, so much shopping.

End of the year activities require particular outfits. supplies. and parents to bring the food.

With a beach vacation coming right on the heels of this weekend, there is also all of the bathing suit shopping. And with two teen girls, this has not been an easy task.

It wasn’t helped by the fact that somehow in the midst of the chaos of May the brand new bag of bathing suits from Target were thrown out with the trash.

not kidding.

two boy swim bottoms. four boy swim tops. brand new. with tags. thrown out with the trash.

because it is May. and it is chaos. and Target bags on the stairs look a bit like trash bags from bathrooms during Saturday morning chores.

Yep. After this incident, Mom was stress cleaning again.

But we are on the brink of the most insane weekend of the year and I am ready to hide in the closet with a bag of Cadbury mini-eggs and my iPad so I can watch Supernatural. Sam and Dean can keep me company and remind me that there are bigger things to worry about. like facing the apocalypse and the complete destruction of the earth.

again.

Instead, I am sitting at my laptop, awake at the crack of dawn with a sore jaw.

Anyone else stress clench at night?

So I am going to get up and start this day. I’ll make the lists. Do the activities. And make the hard decisions.

On Friday night I will get two girls ready for two separate events at two separate venues. One has an opening night for the Little Mermaid and the other has Prom. Both require hair and makeup teams.

Hair and makeup teams being me and my mother, who has graciously shown up to help this weekend.

Then on Saturday, I’ll make sure the high school orientation is covered even though it happens at the exact same time as the second Little Mermaid performance, which I am attending.

We’ll wrap up Saturday night with another Little Mermaid performance for Patricia while her father and I shove all the things in the car to leave for Florida the next day.

And then it will be over.

I can eat ice cream on the beach and look back at this past month and pretend is was delightful smooth sailing with wonderful things.

Afterall, that’s the only story the pictures of this time period will tell me.

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Mary Wilson

Mary is a writer and mother to four kids ranging from elementary to high school.

She believes that creativity, laughter, and fun are the backbone for engaging and inspiring homeschools. You can find her encouragement and tips on this blog, Mary Hanna Wilson.

She is an enneagram 7 and an extrovert. She enjoys traveling, tea (iced or hot), good conversations, and books. You can connect with her on Instagram and Facebook.

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